Within Barcelona, earning a place in the starting eleven remains a tall task for most. The Catalan giants, despite their well-documented financial troubles, remain a competitive side. Their squad has quality in every position, and thus competing for them becomes crucial.
One area where they do, in fact, lack depth is the fullback slots. While Joao Cancelo and Alejandro Balde are the undisputed starters, it is often times seen that Xavi has to rely on improvisations to compromise certain absentees.
However, just as Balde began to decline with his performances, it seemed that his natural replacement in Marcos Alonso could get an opportunity. Yet, it was ultimately Joao Cancelo who was shifted onto the left. On the other end, Ronald Araujo managed to be deployed as a right-back.
This has created an unfortunate scenario for Alonso, as Mundo Deportivo reports. The player has played in 17 official games for Barcelona this season, but only 4 of them have come as starters. Two in La Liga and two starts in the Champions League are all there is to show in that department.
Understandably, Alonso is not quite happy with this situation. He is currently contracted with Barcelona until June of 2024. However, that could be cut short if the player decides to move away in January.
Moreover, there exists a primary interest in the player’s services from Saudi Arabia. Clubs like Manchester United and Atletico Madrid were also previously interested, but a direct permanent transfer has not yet been discussed or put on the table.
Barcelona, on the other hand, are skeptical about losing Alonso in the winter. Despite being more reliant on other players, they would not be completely unharmed by losing a pure left-back at a time when they have no funds to look out for a capable replacement.
Marcos Alonso himself, moreover, would also be willing to wait it seems. He still has time until the summer of next year to make an impact and improve his standing. MD does state, however, that he would not be against a potential return to the Premier League.
